Behind the Scenes at Glamour’s Success Issue Dinner Party With Anna Kendrick, Rumer Willis, Sophia Bush, and Others!

On Thursday afternoon, Anna Kendrick was in Hawaii shooting her new movie, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, with Zac Efron. So why would she leave paradise a mere 24 hours later? We feel pretty proud saying this, but she flew halfway across the Pacific to attend Glamour‘s June success issue dinner (OK, so she happens to be our cover star, but still—we’re flattered!)

Kendrick, along with celebs including Rashida Jones, Taraji P. Henson, and Emmy Rossum, gathered at the private penthouse of the famed Chateau Marmont in the Hollywood Hills to join the evening’s co-hosts, Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive and Maiyet cofounder Kristy Caylor for an evening of cocktails, dinner, and late-night conversation.

“I walked in,” starts off Anna, “and the magazine was sort of spread strategically on end tables. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, my face is everywhere!’ It’s [kind of] embarrassing because all these women are so incredible.” So what does success mean to the star of Pitch Perfect 2? “It’s the freedom to choose your own path,” she told us.

One of the first to arrive was Rumer Willis, fresh off her Dancing With the Stars win with partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Admitting that it’s been a bit of an adjustment going from practicing seven days a week to only a few hours at a time (for her upcoming appearances in SWAY and the DWTS tour), she doesn’t plan to give up her new talent. “I love it, and I want to keep dancing!” In fact, it should come as no surprise that when poised with the question of what success means to her, Rumer knew just the right answer: “Winning the Mirrorball trophy!”

Rumer spent a portion of the cocktail hour catching up with her longtime friend, Zelda Williams. Zelda told us that for her, “success is being able to support yourself doing something that doesn’t take from you and actually enriches your life. Something that you love doing.” Rumer, who was sitting next to Zelda, deadpanned, “Can you make that my answer?” to which Zelda started cracking up.

Of course, Rumer and Zelda are the daughters of famous parents (Rumer’s being Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, while Zelda is the daughter of the late Robin Williams). Their friendship started because of those famous connections. “I always joke about the kids of actors club,” Zelda admitted. “It’s really exclusive and no one gets to choose to be a part of it. In fact, many of us would choose not to be a part of it! But you’re stuck,” she said while laughing.

Zelda hasn’t made many appearances since her father’s passing last year, but attending the dinner was something she didn’t want to miss. She was clad in a Maiyet ensemble; the fashion brand is an important one to Zelda because it celebrates rare artisanal skills from countries like India, Kenya, Peru, and more. Kristy Caylor, Maiyet’s cofounder, is so deeply committed to forging partnerships with artisans globally that she has entered into a strategic partnership with Nest, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to training and developing artisan businesses to promote entrepreneurship in places that need it most.

(from left) Maiyet cofounder Kristy Caylor with Glamour‘s Cindi Leive.

In addition to the talented actresses and philanthropists in attendance, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Ambassador Nicole Avant, CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner designer Greg Chait, Elliott Hundley, Cassandra Grey, photographer Jason Bell, Francesco Carrozzini, and model/spokeswoman Elaine Irwin also toasted Glamour‘s success issue.

As part of the dinner, Glamour‘s West Coast editor, Jessica Kantor, coordinated two chic long tables with gold silverware, yellow peonies, and #SuccessIs napkins. In fact, the napkin rings were actually bracelets from Maiyet! Joked Glamour‘s Cindi Leive: “Only in Los Angeles can you assume that everybody’s wrist is the size of a rolled up napkin!”

Shameless actress Emmy Rossum had social media on her mind when she arrived at the intimate dinner party. “I’ve pinned a lot of Maiyet looks [on Pinterest],” the fashionista explained. “Oh, and also, I realized that (fellow Glamour guest) Sophia Bush follows me on Instagram, but I didn’t follow her, so I hate myself, but I immediately followed her back, and now I’m going to go back and like every single one of her pictures!” she laughed. Aside from making new social media friends, why did Emmy want to be at the party? “I wanted to support the [success] issue, and I love the magazine, so that was that!”

“Success is being happy with yourself,” says Emmy (pictured with Sophia Bush). “In every aspect of your life.”

Criminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler met fellow three-name actor Haley Joel Osment for the first time at the soiree and both raved about each other’s work (Matthew was a big fan of Haley’s most recent project, Tusk). Although Haley is a big fan of the stories and work that Glamour does, he admitted he’s not a subscriber before realizing the error of his ways. “No wait, my coffee table is piled high with Glamour copies!” he laughed.

So what makes Haley feel most successful? “When I’m doing something I love and it’s bringing some sort of enjoyment or happiness to other people,” he stated. “In my profession that’s really the most important metric, I guess.” The actor (made famous for his roles in Forrest Gump and The Sixth Sense) has “the Entourage movie coming out this week, and in fact, there was an early episode that took place here,” he said of the Chateau Marmont. “Billy Walsh was here in this suite, I believe! I gotta send (creator and executive producer) Doug Ellin a photo!” After Entourage, you can next see Haley in Sleepwalker, which comes out at the end of this summer, as well as The Spoils of Babylon‘s season two.

Meanwhile, Matthew—always one to laugh at himself—pointed out that a fellow guest mentioned he was wearing a pajama top. “I guess it is! It’s really soft though,” he exclaimed. It’s that go-with-the-flow attitude that makes Matthew one of the funniest people to be around, which is why no one should be surprised by his definition of success: “Basic success to me is happiness. True success is being able to sing the theme song to The Golden Girls without messing up a single word!” (It’s true—Matthew and I once sang it in an interview we did a few years back, and he nailed it!)

Former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo (in Maiyet) hung out with her boyfriend Nick Jonas’ brother Joe Jonas at the dinner. They dined on local greens with champagne vinaigrette, burrata and English pea bruschetta, herb-crusted branzino with asparagus, aged strip steak bourguignon, and french fries.

Busy Phillips (wearing Maiyet), proudly showed guests some hilariously adorable photos of her daughters, Cricket and Birdie.

Actress Halston Sage (also in Maiyet) next appears in John Green’s Paper Towns, alongside Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff. Halston and her fellow guests arrived in cars provided by Audi.

Actor Avan Jogia and actress Zoey Deutch were clearly the cutest couple of the night, holding hands and kissing throughout the evening.

A dinner wouldn’t be complete without champagne, which is exactly what Sophia Bush, Rumer Willis, and Jenna Dewan Tatum toasted with Veuve Clicquot throughout the evening.

You might argue that Tracee Ellis Ross (Blackish) and Taraji P. Henson (Empire) are two of TV’s hottest actresses right now, and you wouldn’t be wrong. The two powerhouse performers caught up during the evening and clearly had lots to discuss!

Taraji also had some fun getting to know Anna Kendrick (who kept admiring her new gold accessory)! In case you missed it, click here to see what Taraji had to say about what success means to her.

For more with our cover girl, Anna, watch the video below (especially if you want to know what she thinks about in the shower!)

What does success mean to you?